Chapters:

"Snubby - do hurry up!" Diana called. "You're making us
late for lunch!"

"Fancy Snubby making US late for lunch." chuckled Roger.
"He's usually well ahead of us when there's food
involved."

Barney smiled, his startlingly blue eyes lighting
up.

The four children were to meet Barney's father, Mr Martin,
for a nice lunch at a posh hotel. They were all staying with Mr
Martin for the first couple of weeks of their summer holiday, and
after that they would be going home to stay with Roger and
Diana's parents, Mr and Mrs Lynton, as Mr Martin had to go
away.

Mr Martin had taken them all to the town near his home for
a day out. He had gone off to do a bit of shopping of his own,
and the four children had explored the quaint little town by
themselves for a couple of hours. Now it was time to meet for
lunch - but Loony had other ideas!

Snubby's crazy black spaniel had taken rather a fancy to a
display of mats on a stall in the market that they were just
strolling past, and much to the shock of the stall holder, had
dragged Snubby over to the mats and had grabbed one in his mouth
and tried to run off with it.

Loony certainly lived up to his name. He had always had a
fascination with mats and brushes. He would take them from anyone
at any time and then deposit them in the strangest places. He
always drove Mr Lynton to distraction when Snubby stayed at their
house. Thankfully Mrs Lynton was getting more used to his antics,
but he and the irrepressible Snubby were certainly a force to be
reckoned with at times.

"Loony - let GO!" Snubby finally pulled the mat away from
Loony and replaced it on the stall. "I'm ever so sorry." he said
to the stall holder, then shot off before the man could examine
the mat for damage.

Diana laughed as he caught them up outside the
hotel.

"Still the same old Loony." she said. "Goodness knows what
Daddy is going to say - I think he hopes that Loony will grow up
at some point."

"What would be the fun in that?" Snubby grinned, his eyes
crinkling up underneath his shock of red hair. "We love you as
you are, don't we Loony?" and he reached down and gave the little
dog a quick hug.

"Come on, for goodness' sakes." Roger started to walk up
the steps of the hotel. "Barney's father will wonder where we
are."

The doorman of the hotel looked rather doubtful as he
caught sight of Loony and Miranda. Barney's beloved little monkey
was sat on his shoulder as usual, chattering away to the
children.

"Here, we don't usually allow pets in here." he began.
"Especially ones like that." and he pointed at Miranda. She saw
him pointing and leapt from Barney's shoulder to the doorman's.
She tried to take his little round hat off. He cowered away at
first, but after seeing how charming the little monkey was,
stroked her gently and laughed as she tried to put his hat on and
it fell over her head.

Mr Martin, who had been waiting in the hotel lobby, saw all
this and came out to greet the children. He managed to convince
the doorman that Miranda and Loony would be very well-behaved,
and that they would leave at once if the pets caused any
disturbance. They were finally allowed in.

"We'd better go and wash for lunch." Diana said, noticing
her hair in a mirror. "Snubby - how do you manage to get so
filthy? We've only been strolling round the town and you've
already got a smudge of dirt on your nose and some kind of black
mark all down by your ear."

Snubby looked at himself in the mirror and was surprised to
see a large dirty mark on his little snub nose, and, as Diana had
said, a strange black mark on the side of his cheek.

"No idea." he shrugged. People made far too much fuss about
a bit of dirt, he always thought. "Alright, we'll go and
wash."

The four children and Mr Martin had a marvellous lunch.
There was cold meat, jacket potatoes smothered in butter, a large
salad full of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and chunks of boiled
egg, and a delicious-looking chocolate pudding with custard for
dessert.

Barney looked very happy as they sat and tucked in. It was
strange to think back to when he had been a circus boy, living by
his wits, sleeping in barns and under hedges, with no family to
call his own. Now he had found his father and was a happy young
man with a home and a new family. Diana looked at him. He and his
father were very much alike, with their wide-set blue eyes, thick
golden hair and brown skin. Diana adored her parents and couldn't
imagine being without them, so she was very glad that Barney now
had a family of his own to love.

"Come on, slowcoach!" Snubby elbowed Diana, disturbing her
thoughts. "Do you want that last bit of pudding or not?"

"Yes!" Diana said, and ate it up quickly before Snubby
could take it. "You've already eaten twice as much as anyone
else."

"Thankyou for lunch, Mr Martin." Roger said, as they left
the hotel to go back to the car. "It was marvellous."

Mr Martin was just about to answer when a shout from Snubby
drowned out his voice.

"Look! It's Miss Pepper! Miss PEPPER!"

The childern looked to where Snubby was pointing and saw
Mrs Lynton's old governess, Miss Pepper, dressed in a smart grey
skirt and jacket, walking down the street. She was astonished to
hear Snubby shouting her name, and stopped. Snubby and Loony flew
down the street to her and almost bowled her over as Snubby
hugged her and Loony leapt up at her, barking loudly.

The other children ran up to greet her. They were very fond
of her, with her twinkling eyes, and had had some lovely holidays
with her. Diana hugged her too, and Roger and Barney shook hands
with her. Miranda danced about in delight on Barney's shoulder,
and Miss Pepper gave her a little stroke on her head.

They all piled into Mr Martin's big car and he drove out of
the town and away into the countryside, to the little village
where he and Barney lived.

It was a lovely hot day, so they all sat out in the garden
and talked. they told Miss Pepper all about school that year, all
the things they had been up to, and about the lovely two weeks
they had spent with Mr Martin so far.

"So what are your plans when Mr Martin goes away?" asked
Miss Pepper.

"We're going home." Diana said. "I can't wait to see Mummy
and Daddy, although I'm sure we will all drive Daddy mad, what
with Snubby and Loony, and Miranda - the house will be even more
hectic than usual!"

"I think it's jolly unfair that we always get the blame."
Snubby said, pulling Loony up on to his lap. "Loony can't help
being energetic, and..."

"But he can help taking mats and brushes and leaving them
for us to fall over on the landing." Roger grinned.

"Well what about Sardine?" Snubby said indignantly. "That
cat always lies in wait for people on the stairs, to trip them
up!"

"Yes but she doesn't take things and leave things for
people to trip on." Diana laughed at Snubby's indignant face. "If
my hairbrush goes missing, I always know it isn't
Sardine."

Miss Pepper smiled at all the banter.

"Well we'll leave Dad to sort Snubby out." grinned Roger
wickedly.

Snubby looked horrified. He was very in awe and wary of his
Uncle Richard, and had been in trouble more times than he cared
to remember for being noisy, being cheeky, getting in the way,
not controlling Loony properly, the list was endless. He never
seemed to think he was being cheeky or obstinate, but the
grown-ups seemed to think differently. Mrs Lynton was softer than
Mr Lynton and often felt sorry for Snubby, as the boy had no
parents of his own, but Mr Lynton always seemed to see the worst
side of Snubby, when he was playing a joke or being cheeky, and
if Loony played up too it made things even worse.

"Well," smiled Miss Pepper, "If your mother would allow it,
I have an idea that might appeal to all of you for the holidays,
and it would save a lot of uproar at home."

"Ooh - what is it?" Barney asked. He had secretly felt
slightly worried about staying with the Lyntons. He liked Mr and
Mrs Lynton very much and they had been very kind and welcoming to
him when he had first met the children, when he was a homeless
circus boy, but he was worried that they might think he was a
nuisance now, if he stayed with them at the same time as Snubby
and the house was full of monkeys and dogs and noise and
uproar.

"Well, I have just inherited a litte old cottage in the
village of Rosewood." Miss Pepper explained. "I am going there
next week to sort it out and stay there for a few weeks. Would
you all like to come and stay with me? It would mean peace and
quiet for your parents, and I would like the company."

"Oh, what a super idea!" Diana cried, delighted. "I'm sure
Mummy and Daddy would say yes, it would mean no noise and bother
at home, and we can help you sort out the cottage!"

"It's a lovely village." Miss Pepper said. "There's a
forest on the outskirts, and a lovely river to walk along, and I
think you can hire boats, and there is a beautiful old manor
house on a hill near my cottage."